DOI: 10.35377/saucis...1851026 ISSN: 2636-8129

Software Workforce Dynamics and Organizational Restructuring in Higher Education: A Retrospective Scenario Analysis

Özkan Canay, Halil Arslan
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Large-scale software projects in universities often fall short due to excessive workload, insufficient staffing, and low motivation. Locating project-based software teams within the same organizational structure as administrative units leads to structural misalignments and intensifies these problems. This study examines workforce- and organization-related challenges through a comparative scenario analysis of a restructuring model proposed in 2006 at the IT Department of Sakarya University. The retrospective dataset includes evaluations of eight workforce factors provided by 27 staff members from two software development units and three administrative service units, reflecting participants’ perceptions of the scenario at the time and its anticipated impacts. Quantitative data were analyzed using statistical methods, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis. The findings indicate that software units experienced severe bottlenecks due to workload imbalance and staff shortages, whereas administrative units exhibited relatively balanced task distribution. According to the proposed scenario, relocating software teams to a project-oriented research center would increase workload acceptability by 43.1\% and staff adequacy by 44.6\% within the remaining administrative structure. The results suggest that this restructuring would substantially alleviate chronic workforce-related problems observed in software units. By interpreting historical data within its original context, this study demonstrates that past organizational projections can inform current debates on organizational transformation in higher education.

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